Cado (24 page)

I gave one last assessing glance at the dead body of my intended target and crept back out of the condo the way I’d come in, making sure to relock the door. Unsure of what to do next, adrenaline coursing through my veins, I forced myself back to my shitty motel, knowing it was the wisest choice for the evening. If I went out with so much unfocused energy I was sure to get myself into a shady situation.

I knew something was off the moment I opened the door to my room. A familiar scent was intermingled with the expected moldy aroma I’d come to loathe. I flicked the light on and gasped. Jacob pulled himself to his feet, his eyes not meeting mine as he paced across the small motel room. He was one of the last people I expected to see. When I’d first left him, I’d been extra cautious to make sure he wasn’t going to track me down for answers, but after everything with Lucian and Michael, I’d honestly almost forgot he existed. Apparently I wasn’t as easy to push from his mind as he was from mine.

“I don’t know where to start,” Jacob muttered, running his hands through his dark hair. “Of all the things I thought—drugs—another guy or fuck—guys—never did it once cross my mind that you were—that you were—”

“A vigilante?” I offered. The whole situation was almost comical when I really thought about it. Oooor…maybe not. I was probably on the verge of hysteria or some shit like that.

Jacob came to crouch in front of the bed, where I was perched. His large hands covered my knees. “Please, Tiff, you need to make me understand. Can you do that? Can you make me understand?” I wondered how long he’d been following me, and how much he knew. It was a good sign that I wasn’t already in cuffs, at least I took it as one.

I got lost in the chocolate depths of his eyes for a moment. He was begging me with more than words. The quiver of his full lips, the fine tremor in his large hands, the way his masculine jaw rippled with tension—they were all ways for me to see how much he wanted me to fix what was broken between us with the truth. The problem was that I couldn’t be one hundred percent honest with him. For me, our relationship had been mostly about sex. A part of me knew, or sensed, that if Lucian wasn’t in the picture then maybe I would have grown to love Jacob. I wished I did. It would have made things so much easier for the both of us. I couldn’t deny that I was drawn to Jacob on a level, a very human level. He’d been so good to me, better than I deserved. I would do my best to try and make him understand. It’s the least I owed him. Plus, yeah, I didn’t want to go to prison.

“I never told you about my sister.” I tried to turn away from Jacob but he refused to let me by reaching up to cup my cheeks. I covered his hands with mine, a tear leaking out of my eye. “She wasn’t blood. We both got placed with the same foster parents. But she’s the closest thing to family I ever had…”

I proceeded to tell him all of it. About Evie, what my foster father had done to her and what I’d ultimately done to him. Finally I explained how I picked my targets. When I was finished I closed my eyes and prayed he didn’t call the folks with the white jackets immediately. Maybe prison wasn’t the worst option after all.

“Tiff, look at me. Baby, please look at me.” I begrudgingly complied. Jacob stared at me a few seconds before he spoke. “I don’t think you’re crazy.”

“You don’t?” I asked in shock.

“No. I’ve seen some crazy shit on the force over the years. Some of it is unexplainable unless you look outside the box.”

“Just like that, you believe me?”
Talk about unbelievable.
Just like that and he was going to believe me? I’d been living under the preconceived idea my entire life that if I ever told anyone about what I could see that I’d be labeled insane and locked away. “And what about all the people I’ve killed? You’re a cop—”

Jacob pulled me into his arms and he brushed his lips over mine tenderly. “I love you, Tiffany. All of you. I came after you because I was convinced you had a drug problem or something you were hiding. I came after you because I wanted to show you that I love you no matter what. We can get through anything together.

My chest tightened. As far back as I could remember, I’d always wanted that—for someone to know everything about me—all my deepest darkest secrets, even the parts of me that I didn’t like myself, and for them to love me anyways. I wanted unconditional love, which I didn’t think existed. Or wasn’t in the cards for me anyways. I was an all or nothing kind of girl. I would rather be in no relationship at all than in one where I had to be someone I wasn’t. Maybe I’d been wrong to leave Jacob, maybe I should have tried talking to him before I just disappeared. Maybe I should have given him a real chance. I could be with him, really be with him, unlike Lucian.

And it always came back to Lucian.
He’s always loved you unconditionally. It doesn’t matter if he’s not human.
I shook my head.
But it does matter
, I chastised myself. All of it mattered. Maybe if I moved on, truly moved on, Lucian would finally let me go.

“You mean you’re not going to have me committed or—You’re a cop, Jacob. What—how will any of this work out?”

“I’ll help you,” he murmured against the skin of my neck.

“Help me stop?” Of course that’s what he meant. Why did I even bother asking? The fact that he wasn’t going to turn me in was a miracle. I was getting greedy to expect anything more.

“No, I’ll help you keep everything hidden.”

I pulled away and stared at him incredulously. “I don’t—what are you saying?” He couldn’t possibly be saying what it sounded like, or what I wanted it to sound like.
No fucking way.

“I’m saying—that you’re going to come back to Pittsburgh, with me, where you belong, and you’re going to marry me. You’ll get a job other than stripping because—” He scowled at me. “—that’s the one thing I will not tolerate. You dancing naked in front of other guys. You’re mine.”

“You won’t stop me from being a vigilante?” It was insane, or Jacob was. How was he okay with any of it?

“No.” He pulled me closer to him again. “I won’t stop you.”

I was overwhelmed by joy. Giggles burst from my chest and I covered Jacob’s mouth with mine as I plunged my tongue past his lips. Things had shifted so suddenly between us. One minute I was on the run from him and everyone else, and the next—the next I had a partner. A true partner. He wasn’t going to ask me to change and he wasn’t going to turn his back on me. He loved me and accepted me for exactly who I was. For the first time in my life I considered myself lucky, maybe even the luckiest girl on the planet. Somehow, despite my horrid past, and Lucian…despite Lucian—Jacob, a human, a flesh and blood human, loved me. He loved all of me.

“Fuck me, Jacob. I need you to fuck me right now.”

He picked me up and threw me on the bed, covering my body with his large frame. He pushed my skirt up and unbuckled his pants. He pushed my thong aside and tugged his boxers down, ramming into me in one smooth motion. He took me hard and fast, right there with all of our clothes still on, the act almost brutal as he pounded into me.

“Tell me you won’t ever leave me again,” Jacob grunted out. “Tell me that you fucking belong to me, that you’re mine.”

I clutched at his shirt, twisting the material around my fists. “Mmmm… Yeah, I’m yours. I’m—” My muscles tightened and released in sudden ecstasy. My eyes slid shut as I rode the wave of pleasure into a second one as Jacob continued to pound into me.

“Tell me, Tiffany. Say you’re mine.”

It was beyond hot for him to be so demanding—so Alpha, kind of like a romance novel hero. As long as he kept this side of him limited to the bedroom I was more than okay with it. “I’m yours. I belong to you,” I moaned.

“I didn’t hear you. Tell me that you fucking belong to me— For. Fucking. Ever!” He pummeled me harder with each word. “Fucking say it,” he snarled, grabbing my hair and yanking my neck back as he slid his tongue down my neck.

“I belong to you! I belong to you forever!”

As soon as I made my carnal pledge, hot liquid spurted inside of me, and Jacob groaned long and loud. I was sweaty and panting when he collapsed on top of me. He nibbled on my ear. “It’s been a while and you have a lot of making up to me to do.”

I quirked an eyebrow even though he couldn’t see it. “Oh, really. And just what would you have me do?”

“First we’re going to get the hell of out this motel. Once we’re somewhere nicer then I’ll lay out my plans for you for the next forty-eight hours.”

“Forty-eight hours? Why, Mr. Moretti, why do I have a feeling I won’t be on my feet very much in that time?”

“Because you know me so well. You’d gotten me accustomed to a certain amount of sex in the time we were together. I’ve been feeling a little deprived and cranky.” He nipped at my ear again. “You’re going to need to soothe the savage beast in me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. When I’d seen Jacob in my room I’d been convinced my world was about to fall apart. Instead things had taken a sudden turn towards the magnificent.

“Wait? Did I hear you right before? You want me to marry you?”

“No. I told you that you were going to be my wife. I didn’t ask.” Jacob’s dark eyes glittered with satisfaction. “Get up.” He pulled me to my feet and then he stuffed himself back in his pants.

“Mrs. Moretti?” It had a nice ring to it, I supposed.

Jacob pushed me to my knees roughly. “I don’t know if it’s normal, but knowing that you’re going to be my wife—” He unzipped his pants to present his beautiful hardening cock. “Fuck. It turns me on. Now,” he said as he wrapped my long dark hair around one of his hands. “Suck your future husband’s dick. Show me how excited you are that you’re going to be mine officially.”

I licked my lips and gazed up at him adoringly. Something had changed in him. He’d always been smoking hot, with the kind of body male models would kill to have. He’d always been there for me when I needed him, but there’d always been something missing.
It’s not missing anymore.
It was as if his presence took up more space than it used to. It was difficult to put my finger on exactly what it was. He exuded more power, more raw sex appeal. The connection between us was undeniable. Before I would have had doubts about marrying him. Now I just wanted to suck his beautiful cock for as long as he wanted me to. I wanted him to be all mine, to belong to me completely. More importantly, I wanted to belong to him just like he’d demanded for me to say. Things had shifted completely: I did belong to him.

Jacob groaned as I slid his entire length into my mouth as far as it would go. He pressed at the back of my throat, causing my eyes to water. I dug my fingers into the muscled orbs of his ass, encouraging him to move. I was in control but I wanted him to go at his own pace. He moved in and out slowly, me licking and sucking with reverence. He tasted different too—better. His scent, his flavor, the subtle notes that made him who he was, had changed somehow. They held notes of something familiar, something I couldn’t quite grasp, and didn’t care to at the moment.

I hummed my delight when Jacob spurted his release onto my tongue. I swallowed all he gave me, the act soothing my raw, parched throat. I’d missed him, more than I thought I could, and I would do anything for him. Absolutely anything.

Large warm hands sifted through my tangled hair. I groaned, enjoying the calming effect but not wanting to be lulled from sleep. My eyes fluttered open to take in Jacob leaning against the headboard beside me. I was sprawled on my stomach, and I pushed up onto my elbows to meet his dark gaze.

“Is this what you want? Normalcy, or as close to what someone like you can get?” he asked, his face pensive.

I reached up and placed my hand over his, stilling him. “What are you talking about, Jacob?”

“I was so jealous when you fucked him, almost blindingly so. I wanted to rip his head from his shoulders with my bare hands and to paint the walls with his blood. But I knew I couldn’t, at least not then.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. As I ran through the events of the night before I realized my fatal mistake. No sane man would be as accepting as Jacob was. He wasn’t Jacob at all, which would explain…everything. “Lucian,” I croaked. “Why? I don’t—just why?” He’d tricked me yet again. It was so obvious but maybe I’d wanted to believe the lie, just for a little bit if it meant being with Lucian. Sure, he’d fucked me while wearing another’s guise, but the connection—the emotions—that had been all about Lucian and me. If anything, that should have been my tipoff.

“Will you still punish me for hurting him?”

I blinked and Jacob, or his image, no longer sat beside me, but Lucian instead. No wings though, and without them, he seemed more human than he ever had to me before. “What did you do?”

“I tried to be patient. I tried to show you that I could help—that we could be partners, just like I offered before.” His fists clenched and unclenched. “But you still didn’t summon me. I waited, and waited—” He tipped my chin up to meet his gaze with his index finger. “I couldn’t wait anymore.” He pulled away from me and stared straight ahead. “I just wanted to understand. I wanted to know why you stayed away. I thought I knew you—I just—and it turns out I do. He was a good man—Jacob—I feel—almost ashamed that I killed him. I…” Lucian’s voice trailed off and his arms settled limply at his sides. “I need you, my Karma. I’ve waited for so long to be with you. Everything I’ve done—everything since I fell has been because of you. I’m devoted to you completely. Why won’t you let me love you?”